Lakers

With Pau Gasol out with a foot injury and Dwight Howard a question mark with his shoulder, the Lakers (23-26) will have a real challenge when they visit the Boston Celtics (25-23) on Thursday night. The Celtics have won their last five games, including a 99-95 victory on Wednesday in Toronto over the Raptors. Boston recently lost both Rajon Rondo (knee) and Jared Sullinger (back) for the season, but the Celtics have a deep roster. The Lakers have been playing some of their best basketball, winning three straight on the road and six of their last seven.

This past week, the Lakers played a pair of games in China before returning home to prepare for the regular season. Prior to the second of two losses in China, Kobe Bryant took to the court to sprint and shoot mid-range jumpers . The Lakers all-star guard is working his way back from Achilles surgery -- with no true timetable set for his return. With the uncertainty surrounding the health of the team's biggest star, the Lakers may find it difficult to break into the top eight in the West . In fact, the Lakers are not expected to be a playoff team -- at least in the eyes of a gambling website . Bryant plummeted to 25 in ESPN's individual player rankings . The website also predicted the Lakers to finish in 12th place in the Western Conference.

The Lakers (36-34) went winless in Week 21 against two sub-.500 teams. A short-handed loss to the Suns in Phoenix on the second night of a back-to-back might have made some sense -- but losing an 18-point lead to the Washington Wizards at Staples Center was a debacle. Now the Lakers have 12 games left to climb to the sixth or seventh seeding in the Western Conference -- or at the very least protect their hold on eighth place. That battle takes shape on Monday with a visit to the Golden State Warriors.